As One Heartbeat
by twinley
Summary: Missing Moment from Deathly Hallows. A sweet little one-shot revolving around Ron and Hermione after the war once they are all alone.  It's an emotionally trying time, and Ron and Hermione find it easier to break down in the arms of someone they love.


**A/N: So for some reason I really find myself enjoying writing these missing moments. I pride myself for writing moments that not many people do, but I couldn't resist writing this one. It is a sweet little one-shot revolving around the night after the Final Battle. I decided to challenge myself by writing in Ron's point of view, which I find slightly difficult; it must be because I am a girl. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this, because I certainly enjoyed writing it.**

**Disclaimer: Even though J.K. Rowling didn't write this in the book, doesn't mean that I own her characters.**

Bittersweet. Maybe that is the word I am looking for. But in a way, that is unfair: summing up my feelings with just one word. There should be a multitude of words and sayings swimming through my head fighting for the chance to show across my face. But then again, Hermione did say that I have the emotional range of a teaspoon.

But as I walk up the stairs to my old dormitory, the one emotion that seems to have permanent residence is one of relief. I have never realized how tense I was; how scrunched up my shoulders were, the fighting stance that overtook my body was finally unwinding. I allowed myself to roll back my shoulders, testing out the ache that resided there.

It is amazing how physically unscathed I came out of from the war. In fact, I am bloody lucky. Not everyone came out as lucky as I did; but this is not the proper moment to think about that; I will have time to mourn later. The one thing that is on my mind is Hermione, and how vital it is to see her now. To see how…alive she is, and the miracle that fact truly is.

She had left me in the arms of my mother earlier with the excuse that she wanted to see if any help was needed in the Hospital Wing. My protests were ignored with a pointed look, I would get to see her later; right now was the time I needed to spend with my family.

After being the physical support for my mother and Ginny, I quietly excused myself to go off and find the one person that was crucial for me to see.

I reach the top of the steps and turn the well-worn knob into the dormitory. I breathe in the scent of Hogwarts, a smell that I had no idea actually existed until it fully engulfed my senses the moment I stepped in. The room itself was glorious. Despite the fact that neither Harry, Dean, nor I was able to attend school, our beds were still present and made. It seemed amazing to walk into the unscathed room. It had somehow lived through the destruction of the war, and I could easily envision myself getting a full night's rest for the first time in what seemed like forever.

I looked around the immaculate room, but I still felt as if something was missing. It didn't take me long to realize that that something was Hermione. As if reading my mind, I hear a soft voice calling my name up the steps. I grin at the irony of her attempt of privacy. Not only have we been living together in a tent for almost a year, but if it were just a regular year at Hogwarts she would come barging into the room no questions asked.

But it wasn't just a regular year at Hogwarts, and this wasn't any normal situation. We had just finished a war, I had just lost my brother, and perhaps she thought I would like time to myself. Or maybe it was the fact that Hermione had kissed me that made her hesitant.

But I didn't want her to worry. If there was one person that I wanted to see more than anyone else, it was her. So I called out a response, beckoning her upstairs. I heard her quick steps, and in no time at all the door swung open to reveal her glorious figure.

Her hair was a mess, dried blood and dirt caked her face, her clothes were ripped in numerous places, but she never looked more beautiful to me in her entire life. Time stopped as we took the time to take in each other's appearance. I started at her feet, her trainers were a mess- there were holes and burn marks from the vault. I took a quick glance at mine and realized that mine were in the same shape, if not worse.

Next were her legs. Holes and tears were scattered and through them I could see bruises and blood. I wondered if I had the same markings coating my body. I had come to the point during this infinite day where I stopped feeling pain. Every fall that I took, every curse that flew my way was just engulfed by my body. I only dwelled on it for a second before I returned to my fighting stance ignoring all the pain that was permeating through my body.

As my eyes rose higher and took in the steady movement of her chest moving up and down with each breath, the only words that kept playing through my head was "she's alive, she's alive!" My eyes could not stay away from hers for a second longer, and our gazes locked.

The wands in our hands dropped to the ground; the clatter of the wood ringing out in the silence. An intense feeling of relief swept over me; I no longer had to live my days in constant fear.

We stayed rooted in our spots for a fraction of a second, both coming to the same realization: we were both alive, the war was finally over, and we _both _made it. Once my wand dropped, it seemed as if all of my emotional barriers fell with it.

In less than a second we were in each other's arms. I was squeezing her with all my might, grasping the back of her shirt in my fists, suddenly breaking out into sobs. She squeezed me back just as tightly, and I could feel her tears seeping through the fabric of my shirt. I burrowed my face in her hair breathing in her scent simply because I could.

My tears dripped down my protruding nose and into her mane of hair. I probably can't even tell you what I was crying about. Maybe it was for my brother's death, or possibly it was for his other half that he left behind. I may have cried for the look on my parent's face as they held their lifeless son in their arms, or the blank looks that covered the faces of the dead. All I knew is as the sobs wracked my entire core, Hermione's body shook just as hard as mine.

Her hands gripped my side with a strength I thought would have been worn out by now. As my emotions were flooding out in my tears, my pain from numerous cuts and bruises also poured out. But as the ache from those increased, I just clutched her closer to me. For the sting from these markings reiterated the fact that I was alive; I could feel this pain.

Somehow we went from standing together, to lying on the bed still grasping each other just as tightly. She gently rocked me back and forth as I moved my face from her hair to her neck. Her hands stroked my hair with such tenderness; I let out another sob of pure relief.

Once my sobs started to die down to soft whimpers, I pulled back to look at her face. I lifted one of my hands to gently caress her face using my thumbs to wipe away the tears that had made tracks down her grimy cheeks. She gave me a small smile despite the fact that her tears were still making rivers down her face. I leaned down to give her a small kiss on her forehead, sending my thanks.

After I pulled back, her hands reached out to trace the contours of my face. Her nimble fingers started at my forehead, and slowly made their way down my cheeks to my chin. Her gaze was steady almost as if she was memorizing every detail of my face. So I sat there as still as I could allowing her to do whatever she wished. Her fingers ghosted over my eyelids, so I closed my eyes drinking in the moment.

Her fingers hesitated near my mouth, and I opened up my eyes to see why. She seemed to have a strange look of determination in her watery eyes. Our eyes quickly locked before she moved her thumb over my bottom lip and stopping on a cut that had somehow ended up there.

She gently lifted her face up to mine, placing a timid kiss on my lips. I sucked in a breath as she pulled back to try and gage my reaction. At first I was shocked; this was the second time in one day that Hermione Granger kissed me.

But despite my happiness, I felt her pulling away. Her face wore a look of confusion and rejection; her brow was furrowed and she refused to look me in the eyes. Instead, a new bout of tears started down her face as she removed her hands from my face. She pulled her bottom lip under her teeth, a sure sign that she was nervous.

I moved one of my hands up and under her chin, forcing her eyes to look into mine. I reached my thumb up to pull her lip from her teeth, and quickly placed a kiss on her mouth, the first one that I had initiated. I made sure to put all of my feelings into that kiss, not letting any fall behind. She responded in a similar fashion, reaching for my hair with one of her hands pushing my face even closer.

I let out a small groan as I kissed Hermione Granger with everything that I had. All the years of pent up sexual tension, all the anger, all the fighting, every shared look, brush of hands, and years of friendship were shared in that kiss; and more importantly, love. I kissed her with a passion that I did not know I even possessed. I kissed her in the same way that I broke down with her earlier, I let my walls fall down so she could see the real me.

We pulled back once our supply of oxygen ran out, our breath coming out as pants as I placed my forehead on hers. Not wishing to break the silence, I reached down to grab her hand, and placed it over my beating heart; trying to show her without words how I was really feeling. Exhaustion finally swept over me as she reached for my hand, and placed it over her chest. The beating of her heart was thumping at the same pace as mine; I smiled at the thought of our hearts beating as one.

My eyes closed allowing me to start the process of falling into a deep slumber due to the sweet lullaby of her heartbeat. She burrowed her head under my chin, never removing her hand from my chest.

But I couldn't go to sleep without telling her how I felt, what I was thinking. So I opened my mouth with a deep breath to say the first word that I have spoken to her all night: "Hermione," I quietly called out, hoping she hadn't fallen asleep yet.

"Mmm," she moaned in contentment, clearly showing she had not, in fact, fallen asleep.

"Hermione," I called again, slightly louder, almost desperately.

She lifted her head as her eyes fluttered open, straining to give me their full attention. "Yes, Ron?"

"Hermione," I repeated for the third time, "Merlin, you're alive!" I exclaimed in awe.

"Yes," she grinned in response, "and you are too!"

I let out a laugh for Merlin knows what, simply because I could. I could laugh, I could cry, I could love, and more importantly I could kiss the girl that I have loved for years and have not been able to properly do so because of the damned war. So, I did.

We both grinned into the kiss, as we shared our sweetest one yet. We made the kiss last as long as we possibly could before we had to pull back, because now we had all the time in the world.

"Stay," I said before she could think otherwise.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," she assured me with a smile.

**A/N: So I am really proud of myself for keeping this under 3,000 words; my sister laughed when I said it was around 2,000. Anways, I hope you liked my version. I didn't really want to go too in depth about this; I really just wanted to capture one sweet little moment. So I want to thank my sister for reading this over, and I hope that you will excuse any and all errors: I am only human. Don't forget to REVIEW REVIEW and check out my other missing moments.**

**Hearts, **

**Twinley**


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